IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2020 - 91

wall at roof level. Construction commenced in early 1907 and

the flume water. This prevented the complete shutdown of

was completed on 1 August 1908. Roughly 5,000 laborers

the power plant.
During the week, all the necessary planks and posts

worked to cut the lumber required for the project.
The flumed leaked a little more than 0.5 ft 3/s along

were kept ready by the sawmill in the powerhouse. In the

the 4-mi run. Wash-offs, breaks, leaks, and landslips were

middle hours of Saturday nights, the sluice gates at the

common. A break would result in the water pouring out,

head works were closed, and the flume was drained in

carrying mud and stones from the road. A strict, around-

approximately 2 h. The reconstruction work would begin

the-clock watch was kept over the whole line all year. A suf-

at roughly 2 a.m. with pulling down a selected portion of

ficient number of planks was always held in storage to be

the flume. Approximately 300 workmen would assemble

used in case of emergencies. The planks had slots on both

for the purpose, including carpenters, overseers, and la-

sides; they were placed one over the other lengthwise, and

borers. The original cost to build the flume was 15.90 lakh

a wedge was driven between them to hold them together.

rupees (US$528,000), and the estimated rebuilding expense was less than half that amount, at 6.23 lakh rupees

In 1926, it was noticed that practically no more useful

(US$270,000).

life was left in the flume, and it was not possible to keep
the structure intact by repairing
it. Due to the low water level, the
planks rotted where water and air
met. The bottom portion of the

Top Planks
2.75 in

12 ft, 6 in
7 ft

flume was found to be badly rot-

Cap
12.5 ft × 9 in × 8 in

Side and Bottom
Planks 2.75 in

the structure would have collapsed
years earlier. In 1924, a partial relining of the floor and two sides with
deodar wood planks was completed. Flume reconstruction work
began in 1927 and was done only
on Sundays. The water was shut

8 ft, 4 in
Struts
5 ft × 9 in × 3 in

Double Ties
2.5 ft × 9 in × 3 in

Triangulars 3 in

down in the head works for roughly

Sill

20 h, and approximately 60 ft of the

14 ft

flume were pulled down and rebuilt. To run one of the generators,
a streamlet was used to supplement

engineering department, assisted by a
large staff of subordinates, including
T. Avery, a hydraulic power engineer,
and L.A. Desy, superintendent of the
dredging fleet, who was aided by a
staff of Canadians. Major H.A.D Fraser and Captain Thomson were appointed as engineering representatives
in London for Kashmir Durbar. California electrical engineer A.C. Jewett,
formerly with General Electric, was
appointed as the erection engineer,
who would initially act as a representative in New York. William T. Taylor,
september/october 2020

Hill Side

stant watch and timely patching,

8 ft, 6 in

at any moment. If not for the con-

9 in

ten, and it might have given way

10 in

figure S2. Cross-sectional details of the wooden flume. (Adapted from B.C.
Chatterjee, The Hydro-Electric Practice in India, vol. 1, Benares, 1936.)

the author of many famous books on
electrical engineering, such as Transformer Practice (1908, Baramulla) and
American Hydroelectric Practice (1917,
New York), worked as a superintendent
at the installation.
By the end of May 1905, most of
the required land had been demarcated
and acquired. The contracts were allotted through open tenders for the
construction of the head works and the
upper sections of the supply channel.
Beginning in July 1905, de Lotbiniere,
directed by Kashmir Durbar, left for

Europe and America to arrange the
suppliers for the power plant and for
the dredging operations at Baramulla.
He was vested with full powers to accept tenders submitted for the entire
plant. On both continents, he visited
the manufacturers that were considered
qualified for the work, touring their
factories as well as power plants in
which their machinery was operating.
The Mohra site was accessible only
by a torturous 140-mi-long mountain
cart road, starting from the nearest railway head at Rawalpindi and negotiating
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